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Old 05-31-2022, 11:04 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Western Sierra Nevadas, Badger Hill, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cliffrod View Post
Norm is a great guy. He would stop by the studio occasionally while was apprenticing and later carving. T&H is a very unique operation, one of the few that is still "real old fashion". They have made updates, but it's still a made by hand program.

The only grumble heard among those of us who know the old hand machines- the Rockland Maine Bicknell hand machines were often preferred over the same T&H hand machines for carving. Supposedly tolerances were not as tight at Bicknell, so they felt softer when running and were more tractable for finer carving work while still being a full stroke hard stone hand machine. When Bicknell ceased manufacturing, T&H started making them for Bicknell and stamping them Bicknell Elberton Georgia. But in the process, T&H supposedly fixed the loose tolerance issue... Now there's no functional difference, except that T&H doesn't offer a fingertip design in 3/4" D. They only offer a Dallet or Cuturi style in 3/4 D. You buy a Bicknell to get that design.

Every once in a while you'll find an old Bicknell 3/4 D that isn't worn out yet. They're fun while they last, be sure if you rebuild them (via T&H...) they'll likely come back tight and harsh.

T&H used to offer a muffler kit including service to spot face the exhaust port & install a threaded manifold port for an exhaust hose. The hose only needs to long enough to run out the nearest window or into the ceiling, instead of attaching a canister as originally configured. I had one on each of my first two brand new T&H machines, reclaimed from the last two old mufflered machines my sculptor had. There's a trade-off of no longer being able to modulate exhaust air with finger to fine tune hammer performance but the noise reduction is amazing, especially when you're running a machine for 6-8 hrs/day. It's a custom feature worth considering for anyone constructing a planishing machine with an appropriate single port exhaust air motor.
Wow - that last snippet is gold, Cliff. "single port exhaust air motor."
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